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Two awesome features competitors have that i would LOVE to have on MS

Two awesome features competitors have that i would LOVE to have on MS

Submitted by Kaboom on October 16, 2013

spent the weekend driving the autobahn with rental cars while on a business trip.

Two awesome features i used the entire time and improved the drive:

- Windshield wiper sensors
I know this is already widely available here, but this is first time i ever used it. My drive was three hours through constant rain changes from massive downpour to very light showers to drips. The wipers constantly adjusted to the rain and i never had to keep playing around with the wiper settings. One less thing to manage and concentrate on for 3 hours.

- Holographic windshield displays (AWESOME!)
I never even knew this existed until i drove my uncles new BMW GT in bavaria this past Sunday. This one is amazing and extremely useful and it increases safety. Basically, it displays a holographic see through small image of your current speed, and the corresponding speed limit of the road you are driving on. The images are directly in front of the driver eyeline, so you dont have to shift your eyes away from the road and traffic to glance at the dash for this info. And linked with the gps it always lets you know when you are speeding.

Sometimes its hard to know what the speed limit is on any given road, as it constantly changes and many people forget what the last speed limit sign was. This holograph always shows the current limits, and lights up red whenever you go 10 km/h over the limit. Even on the autobahn the speed limits change all the time (its not all no speed limit like people here think). Again, one less thing to think and concentrate on. It looks awesome too, and only the person sitting in the drivers seat can see it.

jcaspar1 |
October 16, 2013

Cadillac has had the headsup display since the early 2000's. Even have had thermal night vision cameras linked to the HUD. I think it would become distracting but would be OK if you could turn it off.

Nissan's four-camera around-view parking system. Using some image transforms, it essentially gives you a birds-eye view of the vehicle while parking. Would be useful for making sure you don't curb your pretty 21" wheels.

Ha. Misread the title. I thought it was features from competitors we'd like to have on the Model S. Ooops!

Captain_Zap |
October 16, 2013

Tesla does have wiper sensors. If they are not calibrated well report it to Tesla. They have been adjusting their sensitivity. That is a feature the competitors don't have.

JeremiahJ |
October 16, 2013

My friend's Corvette had HUD. It was cool. For some reason, it has never really caught on in the States. You can find it in some luxury and performance cars. I think the coolness factor wears off quickly and then you realize you didn't really need it in the first place (and eventually you can't believe you paid extra for it).

Kaboom |
October 16, 2013

Captain...is that true. That would make my day. I am still waiting on delivery so i havent experienced all the features yet. Pardon my ignorance, i never seen it mentioned anywhere here so i assumed it wasnt part of package.

Thomas N. |
October 16, 2013

I test drove the 2013 BMW 750Li a lot before purchasing the P85. The issue with their implementation of the HUD is that you can't see the darn thing in the daytime with polarized sunglasses! So if you only want to use it at night or want to carry another pair of un-polarized sunglasses in the car for driving then I guess it's ok.

I only wear polarized glasses to avoid glare so the HUD is something I'd never use in the BMW.

I did like how their big heavy doors had infinite memory positions. Hold the door open at any angle on nearly any incline and it will hold its position. I thought that was pretty cool.

Gizmotoy |
October 16, 2013

@Thomas: That is pretty neat. I wonder how they determine what is "you" moving the door vs what is gravity/wind/etc?

Thomas N. |
October 16, 2013

I don't know how it works, but it does! The salesman had me park on an incline, open the door up to any distance and leave it there and it just stuck. He said BMW is the only manufacturer with that feature. It sure stops the door dings.

I don't recall thinking that the door was any easier or harder to operate than any other luxury sedan I test drove.

I have a HUD on my BMW 535ix. It is awesome, exceedingly helpful, not distracting, and a big wow feature that I will miss when I sell and use my model s (fortunately the model s has lots of other "wows" to make up! )

The annoying feature is as previously stated, if you wear polarized glasses the HUD disappears.

amirm |
October 16, 2013

I have Navigon on my iPhone and I can program it to warn me when I exceed speed limit by a particular amount (e.g. 10mph on highways and 5mph in city). It will talk to you when you exceed that number based on local speed limit. No quite as exciting as a HUD but equivalent in functionality....

EVMD |
October 16, 2013

Wow I didn't know that Tesla has not rain sensors, I though they were as common as ABS brakes. Does Tesla has ABS breaks?